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I don’t remember this one from my childhood, but I’m sure I must have read it. As an adult it is rather absurd, but as a kid looking for adventures, I’m sure it was exciting and suspenseful.

As an adult it is always easy to pick out features of children’s mystery books that help give away the clues and allow the reader to potentially solve the mystery on their own. Here we can see how the author makes it easy to pick out the “bad guys”. They are always described using words with negative connotations like rough, hard, penetrating eyes, or even outright hostile. The “good guys” are described using words with positive connotations such as sweet, personable, bright eyes, and warm. There is no wondering whether a character will be friend or foe, just see how they are described.

As a kid I’m sure all those scary and mean bad guys were thrilling to read about. No doubt, I imagined myself as Nancy, brave and fearless, always just out of harm’s reach. Now if only it were so easy today to detect the “bad guys”. Criminals have gotten much more savvy in their duplicitous methods. Don’t think I’ll be fooled by a ghost costume and nonsensical waving of arms! Yesterday you could have gotten me, but today I’m wiser after reading this Nancy Drew case.

A fast paced read, I was intrigued to see how all the various, albeit absurd, happenings would tie together in the end. Nancy was a childhood favorite and I just can’t bring myself to rate this less than 4 stars.

Read information about the author

Carolyn Keene is a writer pen name that was used by many different people- both men and women- over the years. The company that was the creator of the Nancy Drew series, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, hired a variety of writers. For Nancy Drew, the writers used the pseudonym Carolyn Keene to assure anonymity of the creator.

Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer inherited the company from their father Edward Stratemeyer. Edna contributed 10 plot outlines before passing the reins to her sister Harriet. It was Mildred Benson (aka: Mildred A. Wirt), who breathed such a feisty spirit into Nancy's character. Mildred wrote 23 of the original 30 Nancy Drew Mystery Stories®, including the first three. It was her characterization that helped make Nancy an instant hit. The Stratemeyer Syndicate's devotion to the series over the years under the reins of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams helped to keep the series alive and on store shelves for each succeeding generation of girls and boys. In 1959, Harriet, along with several writers, began a 25-year project to revise the earlier Carolyn Keene novels. The Nancy Drew books were condensed, racial stereotypes were removed, and the language was updated. In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.

Other writers of Nancy Drew volumes include Harriet herself, she wrote most of the series after Mildred quit writing for the Syndicate and in 1959 began a revision of the first 34 texts. The role of the writer of "Carolyn Keene" passed temporarily to Walter Karig who wrote three novels during the Great Depression. Also contributing to Nancy Drew's prolific existence were Leslie McFarlane, James Duncan Lawrence, Nancy Axelrod, Priscilla Doll, Charles Strong, Alma Sasse, Wilhelmina Rankin, George Waller Jr., and Margaret Scherf.